Posts Tagged ‘ Palehound ’

Generally, when I see a review of a band posted on this website that I wasn’t aware of, I take notice. So it went with the recording of Palehound at the now-in-the-history-books Death By Audio earlier this year. Then there was the memorable opening line, which pointed out that the band’s Hell Bent EP was written by a college freshman and half the band can’t legally buy beer. And thus, a shoo-in for an invite to our annual unofficial CMJ Day Party at Cake Shop was born.

As we noted then, the band continues to work on new material, and this show already served up several strong new numbers that weren’t in that set back in May. The band came out swinging with “Drooler”, followed by several new numbers from the band’s forthcoming album. Frontwoman Ellen Kempner and her full band continue to gel well, and if the new songs are any indication, this much-buzzed-about band should continue to enjoy the fan love for their newest work. While the band only had six songs to work with, they made the most of them, closing out with one of our favorites, “Pet Carrot”. Oddly enough, Kempner originally thought of the song as a reject, but crowds disagreed. We’re glad they did!

I recorded this set in the same manner as our other recordings from this day, with Schoeps MK4V microphones up front and a soundboard feed from house engineer Clint. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Its pretty hard for me to believe that Palehound’s debut release Bent Nail EP was written by a college freshman and half of the current band can’t legally buy beer in New York. The band’s set at Death By Audio last Friday was also a revelation — this quartet has only been playing together for a few months having for the most part debuted at last October’s CMJ — but Palehound played with such confidence and so much in sync that they’re more of a “band” than many more experienced outfits. At the center of it all is Ellen Kempner, whose songwriting chops continue to grow. The band’s latest Kitchen 7″ opens with “Holiest”, which was part of the one-two punch that opened this show in such impressive fashion. And Palehound is continuing to write new material, as this show featured several new numbers including one that has no title as yet. Interestingly, the very animated crowd included one guy who yelled out “that’s the best song yet” after the Untitled song. Perhaps, but we are partial to “Pet Carrot”, which has evolved in a short time from an alt-folk track on the EP to a crunchy electric raver live. Its streaming below. Expect much from Palehound in the near future — its hard not to both be impressed by their maturity and to root for them. The band has several upcoming dates, including the Grrrl Fest at Silent Barn on June 14.

I recorded this set with the Sennheiser Cards on a stand at the front and center of the stage and mixed it with a board feed. The mics got jostled a little during the set and you can hear direct conversations in between songs as the band’s rabid fans were very into the show. But all that aside, the placement of the mics was perfect as the instruments are loud and clear and the vocal-heavy board blends perfectly for a superb recording. Enjoy!

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